Oct.
26, 2001, Manila, Philippines: An old woman chants anti-U.S. slogans
at a rally protesting Philippine support for U.S. strikes against
Afghanistan (Photo: AFP).

Reaction
from the Asian Press:
The war against terrorism has dispersed since the U.S.-led assault on
Al-Qaeda and the Taliban dropped from the front pages of world headlines.
East Asia is among the places it has spread to. "The island of the
Basilan in the Philippines has become the so-called 'second front' against
terrorism," writes Inter Press Service's Walden Bello in the Philippine
online daily Cyberdyaryo (April 11), questioning the involvement
of almost 500 U.S. troops who are working with 6,000 Filipino troops in
their search for 60-80 Abu Sayyaf bandits holding three hostages, including
two Americans. According to WPR's correspondent in Manila, the
deployment of U.S. troops to the island has stirred controversy
in the Philippine press.

While Washington cites Abu Sayyaf ties to Al-Qaeda as the justification
for U.S. involvement, officials from the Philippine government and intelligence
agencies have admitted to Philippine journalists that they have no evidence
linking Abu Sayyaf to Al-Qaeda. Indeed, Bello suspected that the failure
to "quell a mere handful of bandits indicated that the problem is
political in character, not military, [and that] the bandits seem to enjoy
support in high places."

According to Bello, an international peace mission of parliamentarians,
academics, and civil society activists from nine countries exploring what
"added value" the U.S. presence brought to the fight against
Abu Sayyaf found that the presence of U.S. troops had produced few results.
The mission instead expressed their suspicions that "chasing Abu
Sayyaf merely provides an excuse for a 'strategic intent,' which is to
establish a military presence in the Southern Philippines for a long-term
U.S. war against insurgents... with all the destabilizing consequences
for the whole region of such an endless war." But Mello also notes
that in the predominantly Christian island of Basilan, there is strong
support for U.S. military presence.

But the presence of U.S. troops in the Philippines is getting less coverage
even in the Philippine press with each week. Outside the Philippines,
the focus has shifted entirely to the Middle East. Bangladesh's Daily
Star (April 18) published an outspoken editorial attacking the leadership
of U.S. president George Bush in his handling of the war of attrition
between the State of Israel and the Palestinian people. "Instead
of helping to shape a fair and just world order, the Bush administration
is openly supporting the idea of an unfair and unjust world order where
the weak are killed and the strong can be bullies without any fear of
justice of any type," opined Habibul Islam. He also disputed reports
citing Bangladesh as a haven for terrorists, saying they were politically
motivated. Although the opposition Awami League is behind many of these
charges, it is no secret that the Jamaat-e-Islami fundamentalist group
has formed an alliance with the ruling Bangladeshi National Party.

The conflict in the Middle East dominated headlines throughout Asia, and,
indeed, the world, throughout the first weeks of April, as Israel's assault
on the West Bank sparked alarming reports of devestation, particularly
in Ramallah, Bethlehem, and the Jenin refugee camp. Newspapers across
the region had little sympathy for Israel or for the Bush administration's
support for the small nuclear power in its battle with suicide bombers,
guerrillas, and children.

Asia and the Taliban

The overnight collapse of Taliban rule in Afghanistan has quelled tensions
in the Pakistani press somewhat. By Nov. 21, the combined effect of military
successes in Afghanistan and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell's speech
outlining a new U.S. Middle East peace initiative had succeeded in rallying
support for the United States in the editorial pages of Pakistan's mass-circulation
Dawn. In an editorial titled "Powell's
Plain Talk," Dawn's editors banished any doubts outside
observers may have had about the connection between the conflict in the
Middle East and popular opinion among the United States' predominantly-Muslim
allies. "One wishes American leaders were always as candid with Israel
as Colin Powell was on Monday when he asked Tel Aviv to pull out of the
West Bank and Gaza Strip and accept a viable Palestinian state,"
Dawn's editors wrote.

But before U.S. policy makers congratulate themselves too hardily on their
successes in the propaganda war, they would do well to consider the
jaundiced viewThe News, a left-wing newspaper in the predominantly-Pashtun
Pakistani city of Peshawar, took of U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan Wendy
Chamberlain's Ramadan fast.

And a week after Kabul fell to the Northern Alliance, Indian independent
newsmagazine Outlook eschewed stories of Afghan women tearing off
their burqas in favor of an
analysis of U.S. energy interests in Afghanistan, though it allowed
that "oil and gas are not the reason the United States has attacked
Afghanistan."

Meanwhile, East Asian newspapers were preoccupied with their own countries'
battles with radical Islamism. In the Philippines quiet U.S. military
and intelligence assistance has led to a series of significant victories
against the vicious Abu Sayyaf rebel movement. During a productive visit
to the United States, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo earned
promises of increased development aid. She returned home to news of open
rebellion in the predominantly-Muslim Philippine island Jolo, which has
been at peace for five years.

And though "the waves of anti-American mass demonstrations seem to
have decreased significantly" in Indonesia, warned Azyumardi Azra,
Rector of the State Islamic Studies Institute in the independent Jakarta
Post, "This does not mean that 'political Islam' will also diminish."

What Is Terrorism? | Anwar Ahmad, The News
(left-wing), Peshawar, Pakistan, Nov. 28, 2001.Excerpt: "It seems elementary to suppose that
before, or even after, beginning to rain death on Afghanistan to decimate
the 'barbarism', which 'threatens civilization and democracy,' the over-worked
term 'terrorism' would be defined. Yet, the U.N. and U.S.-led West[ern
nations] show no inclination to do so. The unabated crescendo against
undefined terrorism has drowned out the meek voices protesting the fast-blurring
distinction between terrorists and freedom fighters. The United States,
in particular, is in no mood to listen. As the mind-numbing tragedy of
Afghanistan shows, it wants to destroy first."

The Bombing Campaign BeginsThe atmosphere
in Pakistan is explosive. As Asma Jahangir put it in the Oct. 1 issue
of Pakistan's centrist Dawn, "The horror and terror of Sept.
11 have now turned into moments of suspense and worry." Refugees
continue to pour into the country from Afghanistan. Violent, daily demonstrations
against U.S. strikes against Afghanistan strain Pakistani society. Indeed,
after Friday prayers on Oct. 12, violent anti-U.S. demonstrations erupted
from Indonesia to Nigeria. By Oct. 13, British Prime Minister Tony Blair
was apparently concerned enough about the unrest in Pakistan to write
an
Op-Ed piece for Peshawar's left-wing The News.

Blair had reason to be concerned about the messages coming from the Pakistani
press. On Sept. 26, Peshawar's left-wing The News reported that
a man was shot in a mosque. A rash of shootings in mosques were reported
the following week. On Sept. 25, sectors of Pakistan's power grid temporarily
failed. These events took on a sinister overtone in the Pakistani press.

An Oct.
8 editorial from Peshawar's left-wing Frontier Post contended
that the killings made Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's regime seem
"pathetically helpless and paralyzed," decried the "Talibanization"
of the Pakistani government, and seemed to suggest that the Pakistani
intelligence agencies were indirectly to blame for the spate of shootings.

These criticisms seemed particularly sharp at a time when Musharraf is
allotting himself greater powers. The News chided Musharraf's moves
to indefinitely extend his tenure as chief of army staff and to shore
up his power by promoting more loyal generals. Musharraf already granted
himself an indefinite tenure when he named himself president. But, The
News allowed, Western support for Musharraf's government since the
Sept. 11 attacks has "made General Musharraf's continuance as leader
of Pakistan almost a fait accompli, at least until the world again
turns its screws on Pakistan to demand a civilian, democratic set up.
And that is not going to happen any time soon."

On Sept. 26, the editors of Dawn expressed
their irritation with the "Western media reporters converging
on Pakistan" and their "overboard" coverage of the situation
in the country. On Oct. 8, Javed Jabbar, also writing for Dawn, returned
to the theme of Western media bias in an article titled, "Missing:
Global Muslim Media." But the Western media were not the only
news outlets focusing on Pakistan.

And in Peshawar, the editors of The News decided that "it
is time for all to insist that the United States should spell out its
aims for which it is assembling awesome military strength around Afghanistan.
Every one realises the strong impact of Black Tuesday and why the Americans
are mad at Taliban and Osama Bin Laden. However, the question of evidence
for indicting them credibly remains to be sorted out..."

If Pakistan's English-language press has seemed increasingly subject to
the tensions rending the country, the more widely read Urdu press has
seemed almost strident in its criticisms. On Oct. 1, Lahore's pro-government
Daily Jang ran an opinion piece from retired general and former
army chief of staff Mizra Aslam Beg. "To declare Osama Bin Laden
and his Al-Qaeda organization's involvement in the terrorist attack without
proper in-depth investigation is simply unjust," Beg argued. "It
indicates that the United States had already decided to carry out actions
against Afghanistan and was only waiting for proper time. Its strategy,
and objective is not difficult to understand... If the United States is
to achieve world primacy, it is vital for it to strengthen the southern
front of Eurasia (Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran) to check a likely alliance
of China and Russia... Pakistan faces very high risks today," Beg
concluded. "We find ourselves between the devil and the deep blue
sea. Our allies must realize the delicate position of Pakistan, both internally
and externally, as they ask for our cooperation in the fight against terrorism."

As Daily Jang urged the United States to make its evidence against
Bin Laden public, New Delhi's The Times of India took up the same
cry. In an Oct.
8 editorial, the paper's editors warned that though secrecy "can
be justified in terms of protecting the interests of the mission at hand,
but secrecy spawns rumours and suspicions which, in turn, can only endanger
peace." By Oct. 13, The Hindu, a conservative Chennai newspaper,
was sufficiently rankled to publish an opinion piece by Sitaram Yechury.
"Once the initial shock and hysteria [following news of the Sept.
11 attacks] gave way to reason," Yechuri wrote, "It became clear
that the U.S. was using, in a diabolic way, this human tragedy to further
its imperialist hegemony worldwide and to invoke a more draconian domestic
rule by curtailing democratic rights and freedom in the name of combating
terrorism." Yechury, after arguing that the U.S. hunt for Osama Bin
Laden was really a hunt for Afghanistan's petroleum resources, concluded,
"It is chilling to realise that it is such cold-blooded pursuit of
economic interests and profits that defines U.S. maneouvres in the region
and its attacks on Afghanistan. That all this should happen in the name
of grieving the death of nearly 7000 innocent American lives is plain
cruelty. The world today is being asked to side with the U.S. in a fight
against global terrorism. This is only a cover. The world is being asked
today, in reality, to side with the U.S. as it seeks to strengthen its
economic hegemony. This is neither acceptable nor will be allowed. We
must forge together to state that we are neither with the terrorists nor
with the U.S."

Meanwhile, Susanto Pudjomartono, an editor for The Jakarta Post in
Indonesia, suggested that Musharraf may not be the only Asian leader
to benefit from Washington's promises of new support. Pudjomartono, noticing
a new self-confidence and "I'm in charge attitude" in Indonesian
president Sukarnoputri Megawati, wondered if the changes were the result
of new promises of support from Washington.Musharraf
Says Taliban Split, Won't Seek Halt to War | South China Morning
Post (independent), Hong Kong, Oct. 31, 2001.Globalization
and Talibanization | Vandana Shiva, Outlook India (independent
weekly), New Delhi, Oct. 30, 2001.Editorial:
Doomsday Option | The News (left-wing), Peshawar, Pakistan,
Oct. 30, 2001.Editorial:
In the Shadow of a Heinous Crime | The Hindu (conservative),
Chennai, India, Oct. 30, 2001.

Central and South Asian newspapers have been understandably more obsessed.
On Sept. 15, Pakistan's centrist Dawn was caught up in the domestic
political maelstorm that U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell's appeals
for Pakistani assistance created there. On Sept. 17, as a Pakistani delegation
extended its meeting with the Taliban, Pakistani and Afghan troops massed
on either side of their shared border, and an influx of U.S. agents arrived
in Islamabad, Dawn ran an
Op-Ed piece by Robert Fisk, a mideast correspondent for London's Independent,
considering the implications of Sept. 11's attacks on the political
situation in the Middle East.

Meanwhile Pakistani and Indian newspapers alike are documenting the flight
of Afghani citizens into Pakistan amid fears of U.S. strikes against Afghanistan.

It is only natural that Bush is enraged. The solution of terrorism is
not more terrorism [war?] as it gives birth to terrorism and the ripple
continues to widen. My sincere advice to Bush and the Americans is not
to be emotional or to talk of revenge but think carefully and coolly over
the tragic incident and then come to a well-reasoned conclusion.

Editorial: Doomsday for United States
| The News (leftist), Peshawar, Pakistan, Sept. 13, 2001.Excerpt: "The attacks must provide an occasion for the U.S.
establishment to pause and think about whether the hard line they have
adopted is proving to be in their best interests. The desperation of the
attackers, whoever they are, indicates that [they] were so strongly driven
and angry at the Americans that they not only stopped caring for their
own lives, they did not consider claiming the lives of thousands of other
victims. If America was preparing and waiting for an Armageddon, it has
now happened...

The rest of the world should review its policies on all flashpoints: the
Middle East being at the top of the list, followed by South Asia where
Kashmir and Afghanistan provide justification to hundreds and thousands
of militants to adopt violent ways to seek justice, after having lost
all hope that they would ever get their rights through peaceful means.
These militant groups also have their roots in frustration born out of
injustice. Unless the world leaders put their heads together and seriously
try to find a way to end this bloodletting, we can expect to see more
Black Tuesdays, making lives of the people around the world insecure.
If ever there was a wake-up call for the world to resolve simmering issues,
this one has been the loudest and the costliest.

In the Immediate Aftermath:
Asian newspapers initially responded to the terrorist attacks on the United
States with shock, horror, and sympathy. Front-page articles on the tragic
incident and condemnations of international terrorism dominated front
pages across Asia. As the days passed, however, editorialsfrom India,
Taiwan, China, and Japan, for examplebegan to take a more inward
approach, trying to assess their own vulnerability in light of what had
occurred in the nation believed to be the world's only superpower. Chinese
papers, which are normally critical of a perceived American "hegemonistic
attitude," feared that the attacks would bring an already fragile
world market to global economic depression. Predominantly Muslim countries,
like Indonesia and Pakistan, condemned the terrorist acts, but hoped that
the United States would reflect on why it was targeted so viciously, learn
from its mistakes, and react rationally.

Editorial:
Pakistan's Promise of Cooperation | Dawn (pro-government),
Lahore, Pakistan, Sept. 14, 2001.Editorial:
Act with Caution | The Straits Times (conservative), Singapore,
Sept. 13, 2001.Editorial:
Learning from Tuesday's Tragedy| The Taipei Times (pro-government),
Taipei, Taiwan, Sept. 14, 2001.The
Whole World Now Faces a Danger Greater than It Ever Did During the Cold
War | Renmin Ribao (government-owned), Beijing, China,
Sept 13, 2001. Abstract:"The pressing
question is not who did this to America, but why did they choose this
method of attack? The whole world is affected by this terrorism, because
not only does it put everyone's safety in jeapordy, but the attack has
grave implications politically, economically, socially, and militarily."Editorial:
National Security Intelligence Cannot Be Neglected | Liberty
Times (pro-government), Taipei, Taiwan, Sept. 14, 2001.Abstract: "The terrorist attack on American
soil is an attack on the longtime feelings of security that Americans
have felt. There is a great loss of confidence in U.S. intelligence agencies,
as American people wonder how they could not be protected from a tragedy
of this magnitude. In actuality, not only have the Americans lost confidence
in their intelligence agencies, but the rest of the world has too."